NONPROFITS
Liberty House, a Catholic Charities NH program that provides transitional housing and a community pantry for New Hampshire veterans, has promoted Ashley Kitchell to executive director. She first joined the organization in 2017 as operations manager and was later promoted to assistant director.
Granite VNA recently appointed Northeast Delta Dental Associate General Counsel Neiko Lavery, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) NH Director of Human Resources Tonya Rochette, and Nathan Wechsler & Company, P.A., Principal Oreste “Rusty” Mosca to its board of trustees. Brian Duffy and Mark Edelstein recently concluded their service on the Granite VNA board.
Marmon Utility, a leader in engineered solutions for electric utilities, has contributed $6,500 as the title sponsor for Make-A-Wish New Hampshire’s Breakfast of Dreams. In collaboration with Marmon A&D and Marmon Electrical, the collective contribution totals $20,000 to support granting life-changing wishes for children battling critical illnesses.
The Windham Endowment for Community Advancement has awarded a 2025 Community Grant to Millstone Wildlife Center, a nonprofit dedicated to the rehabilitation of New Hampshire’s injured and orphaned wildlife. The grant will help support the construction of a secure and sustainable outdoor habitat for indigenous aquatic mammals undergoing rehabilitation. The project will strengthen the Center’s capacity to provide safe, effective care while enhancing its outdoor facilities. In addition, the Windham Endowment for Community Advancement has also appointed Barbara Case to its board as treasurer. She recently retired from Catholic Medical Center, where she was the managing director of the pharmacy business unit. Connor Slein, a financial advisor with Edward Jones, has also joined the Endowment’s board, contributing his financial skills to the NH Gives Committee and Corporate Sponsorships.
Swim With A Mission (SWAM), a nonprofit dedicated to honoring and supporting veterans and their families, recently welcomed Christina Wright as its new program coordinator. As a retired U.S. Marine with 23 years of service, Wright’s professional career includes roles at the VA hospital and leadership positions in organizations focused on supporting veterans and first responders. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees in exercise and health science and alternative medicine, along with a master’s in nutrition, and is beginning doctoral studies in clinical nutrition.
The NH Community Loan Fund has appointed Mayté Rivera as a new board member. Rivera has served in consumer compliance and community reinvestment roles at both New Hampshire-based financial institutions and for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ Division of Banks. She has developed Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) compliance and monitoring programs; evaluated community development efforts; and designed regulatory processes. While serving as Deputy Commissioner for the Consumer Protection and Outreach Unit at the Massachusetts Division of Banks, she was tasked with supervisory oversight of banks and credit unions relative to the enforcement of state CRA, fair lending and consumer protection state laws.
NeighborWorks Southern New Hampshire has chosen Carolyn Benthien as its 2025 recipient for the David P. Goodwin Outstanding Neighbor Award. The honor recognizes an individual or entity who exemplifies a commitment to the availability of quality affordable housing and homeownership opportunities through generosity and service to NeighborWorks. The award ceremony will be taking place on Sept. 18 at the Straw Mansion Apartments in Manchester. In addition, NeighborWorks has elected Jay Hodkinson, a professional engineer with GZA GeoEnvironmental, and Karen Metz, a sales executive with Northeast Delta Dental, to its board of directors, each serving a three-year term.
End 68 Hours of Hunger, a nonprofit dedicated to providing weekend bags of food to cover the 68 hours between lunch Friday and breakfast Monday to children in need, has appointed new members to its board of directors: Cassie Viau Li, director of marketing at CoreMedical Group; Bridgette Santos, director of marketing at C & J Bus Lines; Claire Bloom, founder of End 68 Hours of Hunger. She returns in the role of treasurer after serving 12 years as the organization’s volunteer executive director.
HOSPITALITY
Co-owners Adam and Lori Alderin have announced the opening of their tavern, Tall Provisions, which took place on May 7 on Main Street in Littleton. Adam and Lori moved to the Littleton area in 2015 and purchased The Beal House and have spent the last 10 years revitalizing the tavern by focusing on a skilled approach and quality ingredients. Adam is a graduate of the Culinary Institutes of America and a James Beard Raising Star Chef of the Year semifinalist. They will be joined by their staff from the Beal House including their Chef de Cuisine, Pete Bresnahan. Tall Provisions is open Wednesday through Saturday at 5 p.m. for dinner service.
AUTOMOTIVE
Stephen Merkel has been promoted to vice president of the West Region for Merchants Fleet, responsible for driving client success, expanding regional growth and strengthening strategic partnerships across the western United States. Merkel began his over 20-year career at Enterprise before advancing to Bancorp.
The New Hampshire Automobile Dealers Association (NHADA) has named Jason LaCroix chairman of its board of directors for 2025. The 31-year industry veteran is currently VP of Autofair, where he’s been for 30 years, and managing partner at Autofair Honda in Manchester. He is also president of the New England Honda Dealers Ad Association and represents Honda Dealers in a regional advisory board.
FINANCIAL SERVICES
On May 19, Norway Savings Bank (NSB) opened its first New Hampshire branch at the newly constructed building on 11 Commercial Drive (the corner of Route 302 and Eagles Way) in North Conway, NSB’s 25th branch overall. In addition to 159 years of providing financial solutions and premier customer service in the process, NSB also prioritizes contributing value to the communities in which it serves and has already made donations to several local nonprofit organizations, including the Mount Washington Valley Housing Coalition, Tin Mountain Conservation Center, Trout Unlimited, Conway Humane Society and others.
Meredith Village Savings Bank (MVSB) has announced the retirement of board directors John Moulton and Sam Laverack. Moulton, owner of Moulton Farm in Meredith, initially joined the board in 1994, serving as vice chair from 2019 to 2021 and chair from 2021 to 2023. A member of the board since 2008, Laverack retired from his role as president and CEO of New Hampshire Mutual Bancorp in 2018.
Lighthouse Credit Union has appointed Adam Wendel as its new chief strategy officer (CSO) to lead the newly added Transformation Office, a team focused on converting vision into velocity by fostering enterprise-wide agility, operational precision and strategic clarity across every level of the organization. Prior to joining Lighthouse in January 2025, Wendell served as an associate partner at McKinsey & Company.
Fabiana Pereira has joined NHTrust as an associate wealth advisor, providing insight on financial planning, wealth management and trust services. Prior to joining NHTrust, Pereira was a financial planner at Sentinel Group, and she received a bachelor’s degree from Cambridge College, complemented by additional industry licenses (Series 65, 63, 6, and Life, Accident & Health) as well as professional growth programs such as the L.E.A.D. Program and Sandler Training.
Rightworks, an intelligent cloud service provider of solutions purpose-built for accounting firms and professionals with an office in Nashua, recently announced that Molly Gallaher Boddy, director of product marketing, has been named among CPA Practice Advisor’s 2024 “20 Under 40” Accounting Influencers, which highlights young professionals who are helping advance the accounting profession. Gallaher Boddy, who joined Rightworks in 2022, works with accounting firms to uncover pain points and identify solutions based on their unique needs. She has led initiatives for Written Information Security Plans (WISP) and security awareness, helping firms meet mandatory IRS and FTC standards. In the last year, Gallaher Boddy focused on leveraging her extensive experience in cloud consulting to assist firms in achieving optimal cloud adoption, focusing on critical touchpoints such as security, change management and cultural transition.
MANUFACTURING
RTX has recognized Spartronics Plaistow Inc. — which assembles products for defense contractors and original equipment manufacturers — with a Premier Award for performance in 2024 and overall excellence in Collaboration & Customer Service. The Premier Award is an annual recognition platform under the RTX Performance+ Program to recognize suppliers with superior performance and that have provided exceptional value to RTX. Spartronics Plaistow has worked with RTX since 2009, delivering advanced manufacturing and engineering solutions that support mission-critical programs.
Pristine Surgical, the leading maker of single-use, digital endoscopes, announced key leadership appointments: Rich McKillop joins as chief revenue officer, and John Mahoney was promoted to chief product officer. These leadership appointments further strengthen Pristine Surgical’s ability to scale operations and meet growing demand as the company delivers on its mission to bringing single-use, digital, connected solutions to operating rooms nationwide.
ARCH. & CONST.
Gary Abbott, retired executive vice president of the Associated General Contractors of New Hampshire (AGCNH), has been named as the recipient of the 29th annual New Hampshire Construction Industry Ethics Award, which honors those who demonstrate a commitment to the highest ethical standards in construction. Along with a commemorative plaque, the award carries with it a $1,000 donation to the recipient’s charity of choice. Abbott has chosen to donate to the NH Good Roads Association Scholarship Programs, which include the William Weaver Memorial Scholarship, the Roger Provost Memorial Scholarship, and the NHGR Construction Scholarship.
Placework, a Portsmouth-based architecture studio, has promoted two new associates: Elizabeth Nguyen, AIA, and Joshua Lacasse, AIA, joining founding principals Alyssa Manypenny Murphy, AIA, and Brian Murphy, AIA, as part of the leadership team. Nguyen joined Placework in 2015 and has led projects for higher education, housing and arts and cultural organizations. Lacasse joined the team in 2022 after many years serving institutional clients, most recently at Annum Architects in Boston. At Placework, he has taken on projects ranging from major downtown redevelopment to public libraries.
LAW
Twenty-seven Shaheen & Gordon attorneys have been selected for the Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists for 2025. This year’s Super Lawyers include: Ron Abramson, Anthony Carr, William Christie, Christine Craig, Tracey Goyette Cote, Steven Gordon, Cathy Green, Benjamin Siracusa Hillman, Francis Murphy, D. Michael Noonan, Jared O’Connor, Brian Quirk, James Rosenberg, Alexander Spadinger and Lawrence Vogelman. This year’s Rising Stars are: Kirsten Allen, Stephanie Annunziata, James Armillay, Olivia Bensinger, Leah Cole Durst, Teresa “Tess” Farley, Samantha Heuring, Nicholas Kline, Brittani Pelissier, Julianne Plourde, Danielle Pomeroy and Lyndsay Robinson.
Granite VNA’s Julie Stone named Hoffman-Haas Fellow
Granite VNA Chief Strategy Officer Julie Stone has been selected for the NH Center for Nonprofits’ Hoffman-Haas Fellowship, which is a year-long program designed to provide participants with the knowledge, skills and connections necessary to excel in nonprofit board leadership. Fellows also have opportunities to hone their leadership skills through real-world board scenarios, tackling complex challenges and making strategic decisions. Stone initially joined Granite VNA in 2023 as VP of strategy, later promoted to chief strategy officer in 2024. She serves on the boards of Riverbend Community Mental Health, Inc., Hospice Help Foundation, Nashua Public Health Executive Committee and many others.
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